From EP 1 591 174 B1, a bending head for a bending apparatus for rod-shaped and tubular workpieces is known, in which the workpiece is clamped between a central bending mandrel and a clamping device movable relative to the latter, and is bent by pivoting the bending mandrel and the clamping device while the workpiece is clamped. This known bending head functions with several rotational axes, one of which serves to rotate the bending mandrel, while another is allocated to the pivoting of the clamping device. A further rotational axis is provided for bringing about a clamping movement by radially advancing the clamping device towards the workpiece (or back). Although this known bending machine allows a bending of the workpiece in two opposite bending directions without changing the bending head, its structure is very complicated and it is not very flexible when a bending mandrel is used once fitted, wherein complex components are also not producible.
From WO 2007/122346 A1, a bending machine for rod-shaped and tubular workpieces is known which has a bending head with a circular disc which carries a bending mandrel in its centre and can be pivoted about a central bending axis. A clamping jaw is further provided which is attached, rotatable about a second axis, to the circumference of a rotary disc which, for its part, can be rotated on the circular disc about an axis parallel to the central bending axis and attached at a distance from the latter. With this known bending head, a bending of tubular workpieces with very thin walls can be carried out in two bending directions without a large outlay, wherein however, here too, the bending of very complex bending parts is not possible.
WO 2010/080522 A2 describes a bending head of the type named at the beginning. This known bending head can function with two or more tools which are attached to a rotary disc, on which a bending mandrel sits in the centre, around this bending mandrel and at a distance from it and are formed rotatable independently of one another by their own rotary drives. This known bending head also allows the production of complicated bending shapes, but its overall structure is very complex with, at the same time, a very large space requirement.
Starting from this, the task of the invention is to further develop such a known bending head in such a way that it has a greatly reduced space requirement and a less elaborate structure, while retaining its suitability for producing very complex bending parts.